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Synopsis

The past decade saw the rise of the British National Party, the country’s most successful ever far-right political movement, and the emergence of the anti-Islamic English Defence League. Taking aim at asylum seekers, Muslims, “enforced multiculturalism” and benefit “scroungers”, these groups have been working overtime to shift the blame for the nation’s ills onto the shoulders of the vulnerable. What does this extremist resurgence say about the state of modern Britain?

Drawing on archival research and extensive interviews with key figures, such as BNP leader Nick Griffin, Daniel Trilling shows how previously marginal characters from a tiny neo-Nazi subculture successfully exploited tensions exacerbated by the fear of immigration, the War on Terror and steepening economic inequality.

Mainstream politicians have consistently underestimated the far right in Britain while pursuing policies that give it the space to grow. Bloody Nasty People calls time on this complacency in an account that provides us with fresh insights into the dynamics of political extremism.

Praise

Praise

“Racism and the rise of the far-right in Britain are often discussed but rarely understood. Daniel Trilling is an exception ... his voice must be heard.”—Owen Jones

“Daniel Trilling is a serious reporter who is not afraid to get close to a difficult subject and ask awkward questions.”—Brian Cathcart

“Trilling traces the rise of the radical right in the United Kingdom and condemns establishment figures for not taking it more seriously.”—Foreign Affairs

“Chronicling the rise of anti-immigrant, ultra-right-wing parties in the United Kingdom and the changing fortunes of the British National Party (BNP), Trilling’s book offers a compelling analysis of the racist fringe... Trilling insightfully rebuts the most common claims made by far-right activists, offering neat refutations of such myths as the idea that white people are the victims of institutional racism in the U.K.”—Publishers Weekly

“Trilling does not let Labour off the hook ... [he] takes on those who mask concessions to racism as concern for the ‘white working class.’”—Tash Shifrin, The Socialist Review

“The BNP is in electoral decline thanks in the main to the activities of anti-fascist campaigners outside the main political party structures but the conditions on which it thrived are still there—poverty, poor housing, unemployment and racism in the Establishment media. For those reasons alone this is a very timely book.”—The Morning Star

“A passionate plea for us all to be vigilant.”—Sunday Herald

“Trilling is an experienced journalist who knows his material, gets close to his sources, and writes in a readable and convincing style.”—Book News

“A cracking book that respectfully weaves together testimonies and stories—of people and places—with national political formations, examining them alongside the deeper economic and cultural questions posed by globalisation.”—Jon Cruddas, New Statesman